Chemical Genealogy

Professor McCarty first developed the academic genealogy [McCarty, C. N., "Chemical Genealogy," J. Chem. Educ., 46, 317 (1969)] of the Department of Chemistry in the 1960's, patterning the effort after that of Virginia Bartow [Bartow, Virginia, J. Chem. Educ., 16, 236 (1939)]. The facility has been invaluable for the study of the history of chemistry and to show the interrelationships in the academic chemistry community. For the last 30+ years, the ever-evolving Chemical Genealogy has resided in the 6' x 12' glass display case in the main floor lobby opposite the elevators in the Chemistry Building.

In recent years, the facility has been maintained by Jim Oliver, Chemistry Librarian, and Bill Draper, Department of Chemistry Graphic Artist.

We became aware, in early February 2002, that an extensive "Chemical Genealogy Database" had been made available on the WWW (the URL is: http://www.scs.uiuc.edu/~mainzv/Web_Genealogy/) by Vera V. Mainz and Gregory S. Girolami. This is a wonderful resource we have recently referenced to verify, correct and extend our information. Thank you Vera and Gregory!

For a discussion of the reasoning applied when trying to resolve differing opinions or conflicting evidence regarding the identity of an individual's preceptor, please see our chemical genealogy debate page.

A subset of the MSU Chemistry Academic Genealogy [containing only those lines which lead to current, recently retired, or recently deceased MSU Chemistry faculty members] has been plotted and is available to view and/or download as a PDF file. This will print on 8.5 x 11 paper if one chooses 'fit to page' when printing from Acrobat -- else it will print only a portion of its original 72 x 24 inch area that will fit onto a sheet of paper.

The lines trace each individual to the professor under whose guidance the Ph.D. or highest degree was earned. Reported for each individual are, when available and applicable: the years of birth and death; the year and instutution for the PhD or highest degree; and the years on the faculty at Michigan State University. The names of those ever on the MSU Department of Chemistry faculty are shown in green and Nobel Laureates are shown in italics.

The Chemical Genealogy "family tree" can be accessed by:

scrolling down to view the entire tree, to see the relationships between individuals; and/or

clicking on the name of a present or former MSU Chemistry faculty member to see the individual's Chemical Genealogy and a list of his/her students earning advanced degrees at MSU.

This project will always be a work in progress. Please let us know of any errors or omissions by e-mailing us at: . Unfortunately, we have not yet determined how to present this "ACSII art" rendition of the Chemical Genealogy in a generally accessible manner. We appologize and are open to, and welcome, your suggestions.